God s Love Empowers Us to Love - Because of God

[Pages:17]God's Love Empowers Us to Love

~Lesson Eight~

God is love, so without Him there would be no love. Can you imagine our world without love? Since God created the concept of love, of course He made us with a desire to love and be loved. So we can say without a shadow of doubt, we were created to be in a love relationship with God, as well as to love others as we love ourselves.

God's love lives within us through His Spirit. Since God's love lives within us, we can choose to love God, ourselves and others. We choose to love by allowing the Holy Spirit to control us so He can empower us to love. This week we will look at how to love God as well as others in very practical ways. We will also cover why and how to love ourselves, in the epilogue.

Day One Background on the Greatest Commandment

Loving God is the greatest commandment in the Old Testament!

In Deuteronomy, the nation of Israel was told the greatest act of obedience was to love God. (Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 11:1, 13-22; 13:1-4)

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NASB)

The Jewish people call Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the "shema", which means "hear". What this passage did was to instruct the people to love God constantly throughout their life, and to do things to remind themselves to love Him. (They could have used large post-it notes.) They were also to diligently teach the younger generation to do the same.

1. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 tells us we need to be teaching our kids to love God. God wants our lives to be a living example of love, and then our kids can

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learn from our example. We also need to have a plan or at the very least a few specific ideas, on how to teach our children about loving God. I don't know about you, but if I am ad-libbing, things do not always get done. That's why I would like you to come up with one idea on how to teach your child to love God and then do it. (If you are doing this in a group maybe you can make a list and pass the ideas around. Gee, I would like that list too!) If you don't have any kids this would be a good time to pray for the moms and kids you know. If any society is diligent in teaching their younger generation about God, then that society will be a lot better off.

Loving God is the greatest commandment in the New Testament!

As Christians our greatest act of obedience is also to love God. Yet, we should take it a step further. At all times we should obey God, but it should be out of love for Him, not out of legalism. Mark 12:28-30 tells us loving God needs to saturate our personality, emotions and will, and fill our thoughts, words and actions.

And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him (Jesus), "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. Mark 12:28-30 (NASB)

God knew our love for Him needed to fill our heart and mind. This is because whatever is in our heart and mind will be what comes out of our mouth, and fashion our every action (Mark 7:20-23). So if you love God in your mind then your words and actions will reflect that love.

If we don't obey God from love, there is a danger of developing a mentality of legalism. Legalism simply put is, strict adherence to a list of do's and don'ts (even God's), but not relying on or trusting in His Spirit for the doing (Romans 7:6, Galatians 3:1-5). If legalism is your way of life, you need to ask yourself, "Am I relying on my own works to save myself?" If you are relying on your own works to save you instead belief in Jesus, then you are not a Christian. Go back and read lesson 3 if you think you might be relying on your works for salvation.

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What mindset enables us to not be legalistic but to obey God through His Spirit? Having the mindset of "being not doing" in a love relationship with God. This mindset will stop our minds from being in an automatic doing mode, to being in a "how can I love God" mode. This permits the Holy Spirit to control us because our minds and hearts will be on God instead of only on what a task demands.

1. Everyone's life has circumstances and demands that need to be handled, as well as duties that need to be done. It's part of living. We all have a motivation behind what we do. Take a few quiet moments and ask God to show you your motivations behind your actions. Is it to please other people including yourself? Is it simply because you are a work alcoholic? Is your motivation wanting to look good or even spiritual? Maybe your driving force is to be respected or simply to be accepted and liked? If you want to have a strong relationship with God, you need to be working on having the love of God as your primary motivation behind what you do. A great question to ask yourself as you go about your day is, "Am I doing this out of my love for God?"

2. Read Psalm 13:5, 119:159, Romans 12:1-2, Ephesians 3:16-20, 4:30-5:2. How can you increase your motivation to love God first from these verses?

Why should we love God?

First of all, loving God is a command! As you have just learned, it is not merely one of the many instructions in God's Word but the most important one. So that tells me we had better be doing it! God doesn't tell us things just to add information to His Word or for the fun of it. He instructs us in the way we absolutely need to go for our well-being (Jeremiah 29:11).

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1. Have you ever meditated on the knowledge that the God of the universe, your Creator, wants to be loved by you! This is a "Wow" principle for me. How about for you? As Deuteronomy 6 says, as you walk, talk or rest, in reality whatever you do, let the thought that God always wants your love to be ever so strong in your heart. This would be a good time to write out a verse that spoke to you the most from this study about God's love and stick it where you will be reminded of it. I like to put God things on my refrigerator. A creative friend of mine writes Bible verses on her bathroom mirror. My daughter writes reminders on her hand, as God said in Deuteronomy.

The second reason we should love God is, He first loved us. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ... We love, because He first loved us. 1 John 4:10,19 (NASB)

We can get so distressed or hurt when we love someone who doesn't love us! You know, your heart aches, and the emotional hurt seems worse than a physical pain. However I hope so much that this study has shown you God does love you, so you can love Him with no fear of rejection.

The third reason we should love God is because we were created to love Him in an eternal covenant relationship. In other words, God wants to be in a relationship with you that is like a marriage (Isaiah 54:5). However this kind of relationship takes you loving Him back. When only one person loves in a marriage that relationship is not a very good one. Unfortunately, some of you may know all too well what it is like to love someone who doesn't love you.

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Days Two and Three How to show God you love Him!

Here are 11 detailed ways that would show God you love Him

1. Committing your life to Him 2. Studying His Word 3. Praying 4. Keeping your Faith in Him 5. Confessing your sin 6. Obeying Him 7. Serving others 8. Enduring suffering for Him 9. Making time for Him 10. Loving Him unconditionally 11. Loving others

Each one is defined below:

Committing your life to Him ? The first time you truly showed your love for God was when you committed your life to Him. You do this by what I have talked about, which is having faith in Jesus Christ. This faith immediately puts you in a relationship with God, and from then on, you can show your love for God by being committed to your relationship with Him. Remember our relationship with God puts us into His family. And what makes a family great is being committed to each other. God is committed to you! Are you committed to Him? You can be, by fervently loving Him and loving others (Mark 12:30).

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love...Ephesians 5:1-2a (NASB)

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Studying God's Word ?You are showing your love for God if you read and study His Word. You are also telling God you love Him when you make His Word your primary instruction manual and you follow it, instead of some other book (may it be Christian or not). It is also God's Word that the Holy Spirit uses to teach us how to love. So if you are not at least reading His Word, logic would say, you are not going to love God or anyone very well. When you love someone, you want to hear what they have to say, don't you? If you love God it will be the same

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25 (NASB)

Praying - You are demonstrating your love for God when you pray. When you love someone, communicating with them in most cases is a blessing, not a chore. Yet, even if it is a chore because of the circumstances, you still do it because of love. Remember you are in a relationship with God, so you can experience with Him the same struggles you experience with anyone you love. There are just times you will lack good communication with a loved one, but as you know, if it keeps on, your relationship will not be healthy or close. Good communication with God is very important - because it allows you to develop a strong love relationship with God, as it would anyone you love.

If you are not interested in God's Word and don't desire to talk to Him, you need to be very concerned about your relationship with God! Remember, it is never God turning His back on you because He always wants a close and vibrant relationship with you. Take some time and ask the Holy Spirit what your problem is. It might be you are - too busy, too preoccupied or too lazy, maybe sick, stressed, tired or depressed. Sin could be separating you from wanting to be with God, or maybe you are angry at Him. There also might be a chance you never have truly believed in Jesus, so His Word and prayer would not mean much of anything to you (Ephesians 2:1-3). If you think this is the problem, please go back and read lesson 3 of this study again.

1. You need to understand communication with God or anyone has two characteristics ? listening and responding. You listen to God by allowing Him to speak through His Word. You respond to God by talking to Him. Read Psalm 91:14-15, 119:145-149, Jeremiah 33:2-3, John 15:7-11 Philippians 4:6-9, 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

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Keeping your faith in God - Your life in God must be a life of faith in Him, if you want to love Him. Hebrews 11:6a tells you "...without faith it is impossible to please Him" Faith in God brings salvation, and then it enables the Holy Spirit to control you. (No wonder without faith it is impossible to please God!)

Another way to show your love for God is to trust Him with the unknowns (Will we have another terrorist attack? Will my child get hurt? Will I lose my job?), and your doubts (Am I pretty or smart enough? Is the creation story completely true? Does my friend like me?). An additional way to love God is to put your trust in what God's Word says when your feelings are telling you not to. This is a hard one for me! How about you?

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NASB)

Confessing your sin to God - When you agree with God about sin in your life, you are saying to Him, "I love You." Remember, even though God has forgiven your sin through Jesus' death, sin still affects your relationship with God. What agreeing with God does is enable your relationship to return to closeness. Let's think of it from a human perspective - when you do a wrong to someone, there is an unseen but very real feeling of disconnection between you two. When you honestly say, "I am sorry" the wrong should disappear from the relationship if that person forgives you. So when you confess your sin to God, it is like telling Him you are sorry. And He will most definitely forgive you!

1. Since you love God, shouldn't you ask His Spirit to examine your heart and mind so there will be nothing between you and Him? Read Psalm 26:2-3, 32:1-5, 38:18, 139:23-24, Lamentations 3:39-40, and 1 John 1:9.

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Obeying God ?If you love God, you will obey His Word as John 14:23 says to do. God's Word is His will for you. Jesus is our foremost example for doing God's will.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:38 (NASB)

At times you might not feel like doing God's will or His Word. I have those times. Yet, no matter what your excuse is for not wanting to obey God, you still need to follow His commands, or you are in sin. When you don't feel like doing His will, then you need to earnestly ask the Holy Spirit to make you willing to sacrifice your desires, so you can do God's desires. What helps me to be willing to do this is keeping in mind what Jesus sacrificed for me and knowing that it certainly wasn't fun for Him. In fact, it was torture!

Serving Others ? Your love for God should compel you to serve Him and others. Jesus told Peter that if he truly loved Him, he would serve God's children.

...Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon...do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon... do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon...do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord,...You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep. John 21:15-17, (NASB)

1. Jesus is your example of how to serve. Remember, He served you when you were His enemy by dying for you. Read Matthew 20:26-28, John 13:315 and Philippians 2:1-8. Prayerfully think up one tangible way you can serve others. Resolve to do it because of your love for God.

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